What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision

Sky's online viewer and download service has been upgraded and rebranded as Sky Player from today.

The revamped service now allows Sky users progressive downloading, allowing you to start watching programs while they're still downloading, and also brings live channels to your desktop, including Sky News and Sky Sports.

This is the Custom-2, the midrange model in a three-strong range of custom-fit earphones from Klipsch.

Ranging in price from £69 up to £149 a pair, the new models come complete with five sets of Contour Ear Gels, designed to ensure a perfect fit whatever the size of your ears.

Here's a story to split opinions. Firstly, it centres around the latest Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman phone, launched earlier in the year and set for a release next month. Fancy a phone as MP3 players?

Secondly, Sony Ericsson has announced a link-up with "global superstar" Usher, who will perform a concert at the Indigo2 arena at the o2 complex in Greenwich to celebrate.

Now we know from our office Usher is far from everyone's cup of tea...

DSG International is set to close 77 of its 177 Currys.digital shops over the next five years. This isn't just so DSG can have a round 100 stores, but is in fact an attempt to trim the company's costs by £50m.

John Browett, DSG's chief executive, said: "Customers have become increasingly promotion and deal driven, impacting gross margins." Damn you deal-finding consumers!

After some months of speculation in the Japanese business press, JVC and Kenwood have announced a merger under a new company, JVC Kenwood Holdings, Inc..

The move, subject to approval next month by the shareholders of the two, follows the establishment last year of J&K Technologies, pooling the resources of the two to develop car electronics and home/portable audio.

Nearly £1 billion worth of energy is wasted in UK homes each year by people leaving AV equipment on standby. One For All's new Energy Saver remote control aims to save you energy and money by turning your kit off with one quick click.

A typical AV set-up uses 9.7 Watts on standby, but a press of the green button on the Energy Saver remote could make an energy saving of up to 90%.

We brought you news of Panasonic's plasma TVs complete with Freesat tuners way back in February, along with all the latest news from the AV company's HD Networking seminar.

We can now give you a little more information on these exciting sets. The TH-42PZ81 and TH-46PZ81 will be available from June, while the TH-50PZ81 will follow in July.

Pioneer, which is attributing much of its losses for the past financial year on price-pressure in the flatscreen market, has officially confirmed its plasma TV partnership with Panasonic.

And it will be introducing its LCD TV models, made in association with Sharp, in Europe from August.

The trend for slimmer and slimmer TVs continues apace, with Sharp announcing three new slim-line sets in its 1080p AQUOS range.

The B20 Series now incorporates the LC-37B20E (37in) and the LC-42B20E (42in), while the LC-46X8E (46in) has joined the X8 Series. The B20 TVs are 9cms thin at their thinnest point, which is thin... though as we reported elsewhere (see here), we've seen thinner!

Good news for American Apple TV fans, as shows such as The Sopranos, Sex and The City, Rome and The Wire have appeared on the iTunes Store in the US.

HBO, the channel in charge of the content in question, have settled their differences with Apple and are now offering episodes at either $1.99 or $2.99 depending on the show.

Here's an Internet radio with a novel twist. This slim, smart-looking device isn't only noteworthy for being brought to market by telecoms company Orange but it also promises to make it easy for you to buy and download the songs as you hear them.

Not content with being an Internet radio, the Orange Liveradio also allows you to store your favourite tunes and then log-on to the Orange Music Store and find them ready to buy... as long as you have a PC, that is.

After changes at the top at both Sky and Virgin Media, it looks like the two could be on the verge of patching up their differences and returning Sky channels to Virgin Media subscribers.

Programmes such as Lost, 24 and of course the mighty Gladiators have been off-air to Virgin customers, but with reports of recent dialogue between the companies, the Sky channels may be set to return.

Italian speaker company Sonus Faber, known for its striking-looking, fine-sounding products with names derived from instruments and composers, has gone all elliptical with its latest design.

This is the wall-mountable new model, selling for £2690 a pair, and rejoicing in the name – deep breath – Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor Elipsa.

UPDATE: Both the UK and US Apple stores have sold out of the 8GB and 16GB models, and aren’t replenishing stock. That's on top of Carphone Warehouse and O2's depleted store cupboards.

Apple’s fondness for updating its online store on a Tuesday means our basic arithmetic involving the number '2' has us thinking there could be a new iPhone as soon as tomorrow... Read our iPhone story from last week below.

Pro-ject has announced an upgrade to its award-winning budget turntable, the Genie. As well as bringing the production of the deck enteirely 'in-house', the company has made a number of internal and external upgrades to the Genie 2.

This turntable will be made in Pro-ject's factory – we're presuming this is the one in Litovel, east of Prague – unlike the previous incarnation and will also feature one of the company's own tonearms.